Cost of shavings

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speedbird

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With the ever increasing price of shavings, has anyone else found an alternative that isn't straw ( I get asthma with straw ) Trying to find a cheaper alternative than paying £7.00 a bale !
 
im using those shavings mixed with eucalyptus and chopped straw bits. They smell lovely and I have sourced them for £5 a bale
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if its bed down you are taking about be careful with it as several horses at my yard have taken to eating and it has given them the most horrendous squits
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I'm in Sussex and the cheapest place I've found for shavings is Holleys which is approx £7 a bale, however I've been trying alternatives- have been trying shredded cardboard at £4 a bale for the last month or so which was good at first however it is false economy because they are having to have a bale each a day!!, so have been trying paper and have found it ok and good value too, so am starting them on paper beds at the weekend- depending on where I get it from can get it for between £4.80 and £5.86 a bale. Hva eheard there is a paper shortage though.

Also have you considered Bedrap or Nedzbedz pro- its dust extracted, treated, chopped rape straw or Equisorb- have used them and they are all really good too and cheaper than shavings. I'm exactly the same as you in that I have allergies too so can't have straw and woodhsavings are difficult too!

Good luck.
 
Spoke to our regional distributor yesterday and am assured that nobody is profiteering from this ....there is no wood, thats the be all and end all. Until the building and manufacturing industry picks up then there will be no waste for them to shave.
 
Shavings should come down a little bit with VAT going down to 15% as of monday, however every load we get seems to get more and more expensive althought I think it may have peaked for the time being
 
With VAT reduced to 15% we are only looking at a reduction of £2.50p in every £100 spent on shavings, feed etc so I honestly believe that the reducton is going to do nothing to help the economy.

On top of that the EEC have decided that supermarkets can now sell mishapen vegetables so I expect that the price of 'pony carrots' will rise as they will appear in the supermarkets at 'Budget Carrots'.
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Take care with waste from sawmills as it tends to be very fine dust that coats everything in sight, including your and your ned's lungs and airways. Also, there are often big lumps of hard splintery wood mixed in with this waste. The riding school/livery yard where my ned was before used to go and pick it up by the lorry load and it was dreadful stuff. You carefully spread a binbag full and suddenly you can't breathe and every single surface - including water, feed, haynets is coated in a film of fine dust. Cheap yes. Healthy no.
 
Have you thought about wood pellets as an alternative? Im in the same boat as you and looking for something other than shavings (but not straw!).
Currently trialing one of mine on the pellets and so far so good. If you buy from liverpool wood pellets in bulk then it works out about £2.50 a bag and if the manufacturers are right then one bag a week is all you need.
 
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Have you thought about wood pellets as an alternative? Im in the same boat as you and looking for something other than shavings (but not straw!).
Currently trialing one of mine on the pellets and so far so good. If you buy from liverpool wood pellets in bulk then it works out about £2.50 a bag and if the manufacturers are right then one bag a week is all you need.

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really are they the ones that you have to wet???

how many did you order to get it at £2.50 a bale im in kent do they deliver down here?
 
My friend is trying these (wood pellets) at the moment. She is very happy so far. Wet takes several days to come through and the droppings stay on the top so quicker to muck out.
I use Bliss which is chopped straw coated with eculyptus which I also find very good. Wet turns into a carpet and takes days to come to the surface. Droppings do go in a bit but no worse than shavings. Plus where I am, Bliss is 80p a bale cheaper.
 
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